FORTNIGHTLY March 16-31, 2017 Volume: 02 Issue: 06
WATCHING OUT FOR PAKISTAN
Pg. The tale of Punjab’s claim of good governance 09
Magazine By: Pakistani-American loses all legal battles for surrogacy Pg. 05
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Editorial 05. Pakistani-American loses all legal battles The leaning pillars of governance for surrogacy
Pakistan’s governing system is degenerating rapidly and threatens to cave in, because the state’s pillars are leaning the wrong way. Each one is needed to support a 06. democratic society, but none are holding up their share of the weight. Media Tracker The parliament that is supposed to make laws for the betterment of people has become a place to protect personal interests. Federal and provincial governments have failed to help the masses. 07. As a result, Pakistan’s superior and higher courts Walking a tightrope: China maneuverers are trying to resolve people’s problems through between Saudi Arabia and Iran administrative orders after taking suo moto actions (an authoritative action by a judge without receiving a petition from a party). The judiciary, however, has failed to dispense justice at a reasonable speed. In cases of terrorism, this gave birth to military courts to decide the cases quickly. Police have failed to counter crimes and terrorism. Now 09 the army and other paramilitary forces are in the urban The tale of Punjab’s claim of good govern- areas to eradicate terrorist groups. The Army is defending ance Pakistan on our Eastern and Western borders, but at the same time, it is facing internal challenges like terrorism and disaster management. Next week, 200,000 soldiers will perform duties for the long-awaited national census as well. Perhaps failed government is not a new thing to Pakistan. 11. Perhaps it happened before once or twice. The difference between then and now is media. No healthcare facility for HIV/Aids pa- tients in FATA During Gen Ayub and Zia Martial Law, the country was in much the same situation as it is now. But there were journalists like Nisar Osmani, Minhaj Barna, Mazhar Ali Khan and Aziz Siddiqi who always raised their voices and 18. kept struggling to keep the system on track. There were Punjab Government’s favourite few few pens but collectively they were mightier than sword. Now, there are thousands of pens, cameras, and channels, but journalists too often compromise their professionalism, and therefore cannot make a difference. There are some living legends of journalism like I A Rehman, Dr Mehdi Hasan, Hussain Naqi, Khaled Ahmad, 20. but news channels don’t give them presence on the An untold story of lonely female ele- screen. Meanwhile plenty of fine journalists are working phant’s plight in Lahore Zoo low-profile just to keep their jobs secure. A number of newspersons have started playing as lobbyists for conflicting political groups. All the state’s pillars, especially judiciary and media, will have to go back to their intended mission to save the nation and our society. They must watch out for Pakistan. If they continue to turn away from their central role, the structural support will collapse and bring the roof down on all our heads.
Mubasher Bukhari Price: 100 Rupees Editor’s Note Reimagining the political circus The show of aggression among politicians is no news in Pakistan. In the history of national politics there is rarely any moment when we saw politicians following an Contents ethical code of conduct and practicing the politics of coexistence while agreeing to disagree.
World over, the democratic tradition has allowed politicians and their followers to compete with each other. However, that convention of decorum is experiencing Promise Tracking a shift. As the world is welcoming hardliners among the folds of government, the rhetoric of the party leadership is changing. The move from political beliefs to vested financial interests have deteriorated the sense of propriety that used to be the hallmark of the heavyweight politicians and the true democracies across the world.
In recent days political arguments and debates have been replaced by propaganda, 13. sloganeering and hooliganism. Resultantly, masses too have become disenchanted PML-N compromises promise for as to their political obligations and we see fewer voters turning up to caste an independent National Account- their ballots. While it is true that the trust in governments is falling among the ability Commission democratic world, it has affected the level of civic engagement among citizens. Year 2017 World development report, World Bank, noted that the global voter turnout rate has nosedived by ten per cent in the last 25 years. 14. News media has borne witness to this change. As the fact of the matter, the PTI Chairman’s promise to build prevalence of independent news media has allowed politics and its agents to voice 300 dams in KPK stands compro- their, sometimes, hostile views on air so much so that this narrative has become mised. frivolus entertainment. At times, politicians are invited and or coaxed into take jabs at each other in talk shows and sequels of some talk shows allow the opponents a chance at attacking rather than ameliorating the situation by explaining issues plainly. 15. However, the politicians aren’t naïve. They enjoy taking the limelight and some have allowed more airtime to news channels than the time they would spend in PPP’s promise for better disaster their constituencies. In fact the attitude the politicians exhibit during their media management system stands bro- appearances has been far better than that on the floor of the national assembly. ken The recent months’ coverage of the sessions of the national assembly has been an eyesore. Some analysts have argued that some of the media projections of the irresponsible behaviour of the politicians have been skewed allowing ambiguity to 17. maintain the refreshment aspect of the proceeding. PPP’s promise for better disaster management system stands Democracy allows the right of free speech to individuals and groups. However, broken competing to air opponents’ dirty linen scarcely qualifies as healthy politics. Media has a stake in that. Smearing campaigns and venomous attacks against political opponents isn’t entertainment. It is high time that media professionals set the right standards. In the recent case of fist-fighting among politicians media should call a spade a spade and clearly phrase their disregard for distasteful events, concentrating on revealing the true issues that amount to the rhetoric of hate. Ameera Javeria
Truth Tracker Team:
Executive Editor: Designer: Ahmad Fraz Mubasher Bukhari Assistant Editors: Consultant Editors: Ameera Mehmood Mariyam Ali Lisa Schnellinger Michelle Betz Photographer: Mohsin Raza International Mentors: Managers Circulation: Bronwyn Curran Ahmad Huma Ali Naheed Mustafa Alizer
Editors: Manager Logistics: Azhar Khan Aurangzaib Khan Ameera Javeria Legal Advisor: Fatima Ali Adv. Fahim Abbas GM Operations: distribution: Masim Temar Ihtsham Marchent
Publisher Mubasher Hussain Bukhari got the periodical printed from Modcons Printers, Lahore and issued it from 4-A/1 Race View, Jail Road, Lahore. March 16-31, 2017 Human Rights Pakistani-American loses all legal battles for surrogacy
to the actual father and the egg to the with original parents, there are options of actual mother and child is born by the adoption and permission of second Nikah actual mother, in that case the procedure in Islam.” Waqar Gillani would be legal and lawful. In all other cases surrogacy procedure would be Masud noted that the aforementioned ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani-American unlawful and against Islam injunctions father would not have adopted this way Farooq Siddiqui, a clinical technologist (Quran and Sunnah),” the judgment of surrogacy because such provisions are based in New York, last month, lost all highlighted. misused in the society. He emphasised the legal battles in the country to win the only model of making a child in Islam is custody of his 10-year-old (surrogate) Moreover, the judgment stressed the through Nikah because even in adoptions daughter. need for amendment in the Pakistan Penal the question of paternity and inheritance Code regarding the definition of surrogacy remains unsolved. Despite unfailing efforts on part of and it’s other procedure. It demanded Siddiqui to pursue the case from the local that punitive measures such as fines and According to court documents, Siddiquie to top Islamic court – Federal Shariah or incarceration should be enforced for claimed that he paid Farzana at least one Court (FSC) – of the country, a large bench participating in all types of surrogacy. million rupees for this service. Later, he of the FSC declared surrogacy against the “The parents who arrange a surrogate also prepared a factious Nikahnama for injunctions of Islam. The court further mother, surrogate mother, and doctors his claim on the daughter as well. He, in directed the government to bring down involved in this process would be liable all, gave $30,000 under the surrogacy strict punishments against the parents and for punishment along with the person(s) agreement and for the possession of the doctors involved in this business in the arranging that and do…,” stated the verdict. baby. country. The court heeded the government to take strict actions against the doctors setting As the dispute ensued, Siddiqui geared Siddiqui, whose wife was unable to up sperm/egg banks and carrying out up for a legal battle. In 2005, a local court conceive due to medical reasons, had this procedure. “It must also be provided handed over the two-week old baby to come to Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 2004 that any doctor involved in surrogacy the surrogate mother, Farzana. In 2012, to find a surrogate mother and offered procedure would lose its license,” said the four years after Siddqiui lost his case in the huge sum of money, according to court, adding, “… becoming a surrogate local court, the provincial high court also court documents. In Pakistan, he gave mother is just like renting out a womb favoured the Farzana. In 2015, the Council advertisement in local press and got and later forgetting the fruit of pains she of Islamic Ideology (CII) declared the act of consent of a poor woman Farzana Naheed bore for money or pleasure of other family renting the womb un-Islamic. in Rawalpindi to become a surrogate which is against nature.” mother. However, following the birth of “It is a complicated issue. In Islam it is the girl-child Fatima, differences arose and Dr Khalid Masud, a former chairman of not allowed. And In Pakistan, there is no both parties entered legal battles claiming Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology particular law about it too,” Anees Jilani, the custody of the child. believes that the artificial means of advocate and human rights activist said. conceiving and surrogacy, except when He said in the west, surrogacy is treated The FSC, however, made it clear that the procedure involves original mother’s as a contract but here we have issues of any other condition for obtaining a child egg and father’s sperm, raises serious legal paternity and maternity. He viewed that through surrogacy would be considered questions. “It is forbidden in Islam because adoption is also a way where childless un-Islamic. it complicates the issue of paternity, parents can bring up a child as guardian. maternity and inheritance,” he said, adding, “If a baby is born through mechanical/ “In such cases, if the child is not possible medical process where the sperm belongs
Truth Tracker 5 March 16-31, 2017 Media Tracker
Media Tracker lists the challenges and achievements of the journalists and media organisations worldwide. Here’s a list of journalism at risk stories in the recent month. We would like to thank international media protection organisation and news outlets for their content.
• A Kyrgyz court upholds a life sentence for investigative reporterAzimjon Askarov, who has been jailed since 2010. The ruling ignores findings by the U.N. Human Rights Committee that the journalist is arbitrarily detained, has been tortured, and should be freed. (CPJ)
• The speaker of the Parliament and other leading lawmakers recently filed a complaint with Egypt’s general prosecutor demanding a state investigation of Ibrahim Eissa, Editor daily Al- Maqal, on charges of “insulting the parliament.” He has been accused of publishing a series of satirical headlines in the newspaper criticising the parliament and government for their political an economic decisions. The journalist is known for his sharp and often irreverent critique of authorities in his decades-long career. (CPJ) • Eritrea has been a dictatorship for over two decades. In this period the space for a free journalism has suffered immensely. At least 15 journalists are currently detained, some of them held incommunicado. President Issayas Afeworki controls the media expression with iron hands. “Those who think there will be democracy in this county can think so in another world,” he recently said. Eritrea has been ranked last in RSF’s press freedom index for the past eight years. (RSF)
• A reporter and editor for The Independent, Justin Brake, faces criminal charges for being the only reporter to cover the Indigenous protest and occupation of the Muskrat Falls, Newfoundland Canada, hydroelectric project site in October 2016. In his struggle for public’s right to know, Brake faces two criminal charges—(1) “mischief relating to a testamentary instrument or property greater than 5,000” and (2) “unlawfully disobeying an order of the Court”—that carry a maximum ten years in prison. (CJFE) • Nazım Babaoğlu was a young correspondent for the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem in the southeastern city of Urfa to disappear without trace on 12 March 1994. No credible investigation has ever been conducted in the time until now. At the time, working with the newspaper was extremely dangerous, as fighting went on between government forces and PKK- led Kurdish rebels in the 1990s. Babaoğlu’s case is typical of the impunity that was awarded for the mass crimes committed by the forces during 1990s, including the murders of a score of journalists. (RSF)
6 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017 Commentary Walking a tightrope: China maneuverers between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Photo Courtesy: AFP
Dr. James M. Dorsey via equal and friendly consultations” and King Salman hopes to exploit this window This week’s sanctioning of one of China’s offered to play a mediating role. of opportunity while in Beijing in what largest telecom equipment manufacturers, is fundamentally an unequal battle with ZTE, by the US Commerce Department, There is little prospect for successful Iran that brings assets to the table that and an investigation of Huawei, ZTE’s mediation with Saudi Arabia and Iran Saudi Arabia lacks. Those assets no matter foremost Chinese competitor, could not viewing their global rivalry as a zero- how degraded include a large population, have come at a more auspicious moment sum-game and the kingdom hoping that an industrial base, resources, a battle- for Saudi King Salman as he visits China on a tougher US policy towards Iran will hardened military, a deep-rooted culture, the third leg of his month-long Asian tour. extend its window of opportunity in what a history of empire, and a geography that is fundamentally an uphill battle against makes it a crossroads. Saudi custodianship King Salman’s visit aims to strengthen Iran. The sanctioning of ZTE sends China of the Muslim holy cities, Mecca and economic and military ties and persuade a message that the US does not endorse Medina, and money will in the middle and China that Saudi Arabia rather than business as usual with Iran and that this long term not be able to compete. Iran is its most useful regional ally. The could have consequences for future US – penalties and investigation of the two China trade negotiations. Iran’s strategic advantage is nowhere more Chinese companies related to violations evident than in global competition to of US sanctions on Iran as well as North King Salman’s quest is further enhanced shape the future architecture of Eurasia’s Korea signal the Trump administration’s by the fact that China, which has close, energy landscape. Energy scholar Micha’el intent to adopt a tough stance toward long-standing military ties to Iran, last year Tanchum argues that Iran is pivotal to the Islamic republic. ZTE pleaded guilty to agreed to upgrade cooperation with the the success of China’s trans-continental, the US accusation that it sold US-made kingdom. “China is willing to push military infrastructure-focussed One Belt, One electronics to Iran and agreed to pay a relations with Saudi Arabia to a new level,” Road initiative in ways that Saudi Arabia is $1.19 billion fine. Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan not. told his visiting Saudi counterpart, Deputy “We are putting the world on notice: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last In a study published in 2015, Mr. Tanchum The games are over. Those who flout our August. Special counter-terrorism forces suggested that it would be gas supplies economic sanctions and export control from the two countries held the first from Iran and Turkmenistan, two Caspian laws will not go unpunished — they will ever joint exercise between the Chinese Sea states, rather than Saudi oil that would suffer the harshest of consequences,” said military and an Arab armed force two determine which way the future Eurasian US Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross. months later. energy architecture tilts: China, the world’s third largest LNG importer, or Europe. Speaking days before King Salman’s Closer military relations and Saudi hopes The ability of Iran to capitalize on the fact arrival in Beijing and immediately after that US sanctions will complicate Chinese that it boasts the world’s second largest the sanctioning of ZTE, Chinese Foreign engagement with Iran counter perceptions natural gas reserves and its fourth largest Minister Wang Yi positioned his country that Chinese President Xi Jinping was oil reserves was significantly enhanced as a friend of both Saudi Arabia and Iran. tilting towards the Islamic republic when with the lifting in 2015 of international Mr. Wang urged the countries to “resolve he visited the Middle East in early 2016. sanctions. the problems that exist between them
Truth Tracker 7 March 16-31, 2017
“Iran, within five years, will likely have 24.6 billion cubic metres of natural gas available for annual piped gas exports beyond its current supply commitments. Not enough to supply all major markets, Tehran will face a crucial geopolitical choice for the destination of its piped exports. Iran will be able to export piped gas to two of the following three markets: European Union (EU)/ Turkey via the Southern Gas Corri- dor centring on the Trans-Anatolian Natu- ral Gas Pipeline (TANAP), India via an Iran- Oman-India pipeline, or China via either Turkmenistan or Pakistan. The degree to which the system of energy relationships in Eurasia will be more oriented toward the European Union or China will depend on the extent to which each secures Cas- pian piped gas exports through pipeline infrastructure directed to its respective markets,” Mr. Tanchum said.
In other words, Mr. Tanchum argued that to determine the balance of power in Eurasian energy and establish One Belt, One Road as the key determinant of Eurasia’s energy architecture, China would need to position itself as the main the trans-Atlantic community’s effort to Gazprom has invested in an Iran-Armenia recipient of Iranian and Turkmen gas. That strengthen relations with India as an anti- gas pipeline. in turn, would enhance China’s growing dote to the rise of China. economic influence in Central Asia, and For now, King Salman’s mission in Beijing further extend it to the Caucasus and the Iran’s geopolitical significance is further is facilitated by the fact that Mr. Trump is eastern Mediterranean. enhanced by the fact that competition for signalling that Iran’s return to the inter- Iranian gas favour occurs against the back- national fold based on the nuclear agree- China has already many of the building drop of expectations that Iranian coopera- ment is not a foregone conclusion. The blocks needed to make that a reality: close tion with Russia in Syria and elsewhere Saudi leader may also be banking on the and long-standing relations with Iran, is opportunistic and unlikely to prove fact that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani significant investment in Turkmen gas sustainable. Iranian-Russian competition is could be fighting an uphill battle in presi- production and pipeline infrastructure, already visible in the Caucasus and Central dential elections in May because the lifting and the construction of Pakistan’s section Asia that ironically mitigates in Europe’s of international sanctions has been slow in of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline. Hooking the rather than China’s favour. Iran is likely to benefitting Iran and Iranians economically. pipeline to One Belt, One Road would deepen energy cooperation with Turkey in The king’s problem, however, is that Chi- allow China to receive Iranian gas not only a bid to enhance its influence and curtail nese strategists are likely to see obstacles by sea on its eastern seaboard but also in Russian inroads in the Islamic republic’s to doing business with Iran as a short-term its land-locked, troubled north-western northern neighbours, Azerbaijan, Turk- problem and that China recognizes that in province Xinjiang. menistan, China’s principle gas supplier, the middle and long-term Iran has assets and Armenia where Russia’s state-owned China cannot afford to ignore. Pakistan’s top military commander, Dr. James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, appeared to co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The acknowledge Iran’s pivotal role by noting Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog, a book with the same title, Comparative Political that “enhanced Pakistan-Iran military-to- Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-authored with military cooperation will have a positive Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario and a forthcoming book, Shifting Sands, Essays on Sports and impact on regional peace and stability.” Politics in the Middle East and North Africa Pakistan, which hosts One Belt, One Road’s flagship project, the $51 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has refrained from fully engaging with a 41-nation, Saudi-led military alliance per- ceived to be partly directed at Iran, while the Pakistani parliament rejected a Saudi request for military support in its war in Yemen.
Linking the Iran-Pakistan pipeline to CPEC would increase Iran’s importance for the success of China’s Eurasian infrastructure play. Iran’s geo-political strengths are however not wholly dependent on aligning the Islamic republic with China. With the development of Iran’s Indian-built Chaba- har port and the undersea Iran-Oman- India pipeline that would potentially create an alternative Asia-to-Europe energy corridor, Iran is, according to Mr. Tanchum, well-positioned to play both ends against the middle as well as adopt a key role in
8 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017 Accountability The tale of Punjab’s claim of good governance
The fair and transparent allocation/ Rs.12.4 million referred to public accounts utilization of development funds was committee for settlement. The para repeatedly questioned by southern maintained that the chief minister Punjab Anwer Sumra Punjab’s legislators on the floor of the illegally used said amount on his tour house inquiring why Lahore is the only to China from the board’s funds. This is Lahore: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz focus for urban development. Orange enough to gauge the adoption of strict (PML-N), under the command of Shahbaz Line Metro Trains project fortified their financial discipline and how public kitty is Sharif, announced strict implementation reservations and objections as government being used without fear of accountability and promotion of Good Governance in diverted funds earmarked for development and transparency. public affairs in Punjab to remove all schemes particularly for education impediments hindering public welfare and and health of southern districts, says The government also banned the purchase governance delivery. documents obtained by TT. of new and imported vehicles from the current and development budgets and; As PML-N had come to power in Punjab The provincial government adopted an curtailed official functions at hotels it vowed Good Governance as, merit Open Door policy and Khuli Kachahries unless one was deemed necessary by the based transfers and postings, transparency (open courts) were introduced to resolve chief minister for state delegations. The in governance affairs, fair distribution/ the grievances and issues of general public. refurbishment or interior decoration of utilization of development funds, easy It was being organized from the top (chief offices, establishment of offices, purchase public access to government offices, executive) of the province down to a grade of furniture and fixtures, and procurement austerity measures in public expenditures 17 officers for listening general public for of machinery and equipment was also and redressal of grievances without quick redressal of their grievances. This frozen, quoted the notification issued by delay. But unfortunately, with the initiative met its fate all of sudden when finance department. passage of time, all initiatives taken by the chief minister ceased holding of such the government failed one by one and, courts on a pretext of security threat In the presence of a strict austerity policy the public faces the same stereotype of stated the document. to deal with public expenditures, the governance in all affairs. Punjab government approved import of The government also promised that strict Teakwood from Burma at the rate of Rs.14, According to documents obtained by Truth financial discipline would be ensured in 000 per square feet for interior designing Tracker (TT) from the civil secretariat, all government expenditures. Contrary to of newly constructed Punjab Assembly from the very first day, the PML-N the facts, it was evident that the amount session hall, says document obtained government violated its self-claimed good of supplementary grant touched the figure by TT. However, according to finance governance in transfers and postings of Rs. 150 billion during 2015-16 against department Schedules of Rates, the rate when a junior officer in BS-18 was posted the amount of Rs.42.9 billion of the of Teakwood was calculated at Rs.5200 as Administrative Secretary and a BS-17 corresponding years (2014-15), says White per square feet if it was indispensable to officer posted as District Coordination Paper a budget book released by Punjab purchase but the figure was not approved Officer (DCO). The policy to post juniors government. by the decision makers, the document on senior posts yet continues despite maintained. opposition from concerned quarters. The rise in supplementary grant is criticised by experts for poor planning, A committee headed by Punjab Law Therefore, many senior grade officers are weak financial discipline and bad Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan approved finding themselves serving under junior governance in budget making and priority the exorbitant rates to allow the command for the first time in hierarchy of fixing. The audit report (2013-14) of contractor for import of Teakwood with Pakistan Administrative Service (formally Punjab Board of Investment and Trade the observation that economical work known as District Management Group (PIBT), available with Truth Tracker, without compromising on quality for the (DMG) officers. shows an anomaly as an audit para of interior designing, the documents reveals.
Truth Tracker 9 March 16-31, 2017
On the other hand, few days back, Zahra nine years and the cost escalated to enterprise. Good governance needs vision Bibi, 60, from Kasur died on the cold Rs.3.5 billion. It is now scheduled to open but they badly lack it. floor of Jinnah hospital as the hospital in upcoming June. The government is management failed to even provide a planning to convene upcoming budget Political advisor to Chairman PTI Imran bed to her. Both the incidents: import session for the financial year 2017-18 Khan, Ejaz Chaudhary says that a common of Teakwood at rate of Rs.14, 000 per (electioneering year also) in this newly man is not on the priority list of the PML-N square feet and death of an elderly lady constructed hall. government because no steps are taken for without facility of bed speaks volumes of his welfare like improvement of education, good governance being practiced in the The existing assembly building was health, sanitation and employment. If province. constructed in 1935 and housed 58 you see mega projects like metro bus and members. It was used to cater to the needs train, these are not cost-effective, as they The non-availability of beds for healthcare of 240 members until 1999. When the will benefit less than one per cent of total to a common citizen, you may call it no political process was restored in October population of the province. governance, said Professor Munawar Sabir 2002, the number of constituencies of the of Punjab University. In good governance, Punjab Assembly increased to 371 and “Corruption has increased in the public maximum benefits (social and economic) the government planned to construct new sector as mega corruption scandals are for maximum population and the building with the capacity of 500 seats in including Student Laptop Scheme, governance promoted by Punjab is a the main hall, 600 seats in the galleries Ashiyana Housing Scheme, Sasti Roti ridiculous one as it is restricted only for for the visitors and 300 seats in the press and Metro Bus are being criticized by family and friends, Sabir added. gallery for the media personnel covering the public,” Chaudhary says, adding, the proceedings of the House. The old “Postings of junior officers on senior slots Distribution of the cheques to the building will be preserved as a national have ruined the system, crime rate have bereaved families after provincial tragedy asset because of its national importance increased because of the politicisation of cannot justify good governance in any including hosting of the Second Islamic the police.” shape, perhaps avoiding such negligence Summit in 1974. and deaths could be called a step towards Truth Tracker contacted Punjab good governance, Sabir maintained. In the presence of self-acclaimed good government spokesperson Malik governance, use of a huge amount Muhammad Ahmed and provincial minister The Punjab government laid the from the public kitty for luxury items Zaeem Qadari repeatedly for government foundation stone for the extension of tantamount to humiliation and disgrace of viewpoint but they refrained from Punjab Assembly building in January 2005 the voice and rights of the province’s poor. comment. and it was scheduled to be completed till September 2007 with the estimated cost A social science student Muhammad Arfan of Rs.2.52 billion, says a document. says good government is not the priority of the present regime because the rulers The completion was delayed for about are governing the province like private
10 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017 Accountability No healthcare facility for HIV/Aids patients in FATA
women rights in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and most are rural residents from NWFP, Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), FATA and southern Punjab. The infections said that 55 workers from FATA were they transmit will likely lead to truncated Wisal Yousafzai deported from Gulf countries due to being epidemics (an epidemic that will likely not diagnosed with HIV infection. propagate further since their partners have PESHAWAR: To reach the Family Health limited or no further partners), since these Care Centre in Peshawar for treatment of According to the research study HIV HIV-positive patients will be infecting HIV/Aids, Kulsoom Bibi has to travel 250 Epidemic in Pakistan, migrant workers are their spouses and their limited number of kilometer from Kurram Agency. predominantly low skilled rural men that extramarital partners,” says the report. travel either abroad or within the country “With my ill-health, it is difficult to for work and remain away from their Just as in FATA, HIV/Aids patients from cover long distances and travel in public families for months. The study says most the Provincially Administered Tribal Area transport from Parachinar to Peshawar for are unprepared for the HIV exposures in (PATA) also lack healthcare facilities. the treatment,” said Bibi, who belongs to large urban centers where they find work. the town of Parachinar in Kurram Agency, Asif Ali, who is a manager at the one of the seven districts of the Federally “Nearly all registered patients in HIV clinics Association for Community Development Administered Tribal Area (FATA). in Pakistan are those who repatriated (ACD) that works on HIV/Aids in the after acquiring HIV during their work PATA region, said data of migrant workers According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa abroad, mostly from the Middle East,” deported from Gulf countries collected Aids Control Program, there is no says the study. “Mandatory HIV testing is in 2016 showed 34 HIV/Aids patients in healthcare facility in the any of the seven conducted at recruitment and repeatedly Swat, 25 in Bajaur Agency, 18 in Buner, agencies of FATA to treat patients with to renew work permits in the Middle 17 in Malakand Agency, 54 cases in Lower HIV/Aids. East. Those who acquire HIV are quickly Dir, 21 in Upper Dir, 6 in Shangla and 1 in identified and deported - often without Chitral. Bibi currently resides in a rented home being told the reason for the deportation. with her five children. She lost her The quick testing and retesting means The KP Health Minister Shahram Taraki husband to HIV/Aids two years ago. that most are diagnosed and deported told media in December 2016 that there while suffering from acute HIV infection, were an estimated 97,400 cases of HIV/ Patients from the region have to travel to when they are healthy and most likely to Aids in Pakistan. Of these, around 16,000 cities of Peshawar and Kohat in Khyber transmit the infection to their spouses and HIV patients were registered with the Pakhtunkhwa to receive treatment at or sex partners.” National Aids Control Programme - with Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar 2,584 registered in Hayatabad Medical and Kohat District Headquarter Hospital. The report says that upon return, many Complex Peshawar and Kohat District marry or continue living risky sexual Hospital and 485 in the Federally Statistics made available by the KP Aids behaviours and infect their spouses and Administrated Tribal Areas. Of these, 235 Control Program show that 485 cases or sex partners. With nearly 2 million HIV/Aids patients were foreigners, mostly of HIV/Aids were reported in FATA up migrant workers currently in the Middle Afghan refugees. to November 2016. Of these, 33 cases East (Bureau of Emigration, Pakistan), were reported in Bajaur Agency, 87 from says the report, the potential number of “Like other Asian countries Pakistan is also Khyber Agency, 98 from Kurram Agency, individuals at risk of contracting HIV is HIV epidemic, characterized by different 218 cases from Bannu, 34 from Mohmand huge. However, no national mechanism risk factors,” says the report A Situational Agency, 28 from Orakzai Agency, 72 from exists to enumerate or locate HIV positive Analysis of HIV and AIDS in Pakistan. South Waziristan and 133 from North repatriated workers. “Formerly Pakistan was considered to be Waziristan. a low prevalence country, but now it is “Except those from the city of Karachi, in the group of “Countries in Transition” Khwendo Kor, an organisation working for Truth Tracker 11 March 16-31, 2017 with a concentrated epidemic among high the HIV positive reported persons, establishing the centers so far. The social risk groups, where the AIDS problem is indiscriminate transfusion of unscreened taboos and cultural barriers are keeping increasing since five years. The number blood, rising number of drug addicts and us from taking up the issue. Sometimes of infected persons might be running in low condom use rates, are the serious risk HIV patients face problems from their own millions if proper screening is carried out,” factors that put the country in danger of people and localities,” he maintained. the report indicated. facing a rapid spread of HIV/AIDS.” Bibi and other HIV/AIDS patients from The report also pointed out behaviors Dr. Jawad Habib, Director Health FATA, FATA getting treated at Peshawar and conducive to the spread of HIV infection told Truth Tracker that the authorities had Kohat may have to travel long distances to young people. These are: curiosity about proposed to UNICEF to help establish to get treatment, said Habib, but that way sex and drugs, negative peer pressure, healthcare centers in the tribal areas for they are not exposed to their communities and economic frustration in Pakistan. HIV/AIDS patients. back home.” The report identified other factors, i.e., “Widespread poverty, significant power Habib pointed out several challenges imbalances in men and women, labor for establishing HIV/AIDS centres in migration, lack of any system to check FATA. “We have not been successful in
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12 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017 Promise Tracking PML-N compromises promise for an independent National Accountability Commission
Durdana Najam
The Promise Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had promised in their 2013 manifesto to form an independent National Accountability Commission after coming to power. Background The National Accountability Bureau, the premier accountability agency established to try corrupt government officers and politicians was the brainchild of former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf. He had justified his coup by calling it a reluctant attempt to check corruption. The National Accountability Ordinance 1999 would in time become a tool to harass politicians whose loyalties were required to form a democratic set-up under the umbrella of a political party. The law that criminalized non-repayment of bank loans defected today, the intentions of the leadership become clear and clean, many politicians to Musharraf’s self-created Pakistan Muslims the existing laws would be sufficient to get rid of corruption,” Virk League-Q. Among other loopholes in the legal framework of concluded. NAB, the Voluntary Return and Plea Bargain provision under Talking to Truth Tracker, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Section 25 are considered the worst. Although the Supreme Chairman and Member National Assembly, Shah Mehmood Court had restrained Chairman NAB from using Voluntary Return, Qureshi, said, “The test of the government’s seriousness about the Plea Bargain can still be used. eliminating corruption did not lie in making a new anti-corruption The former Finance Secretary Balochistan, Mushtaq Raisani, is law, but in getting it implemented in letter and spirit.” While the latest example, and a glaring one too, of a corrupt officer set- talking about NAB, he deplored it for serving the government’s free using the provision of Plea Bargain. He secured his release interest. It had been possible according to Shah because of the after paying Rs 2 billion from the massive amount of embezzled Chairman NAB, in whose hands rests all the power and who is money. NAB had recovered more than Rs 730 million from appointed by the Leader of the House and Opposition. “You Raisani’s home in a raid in Quetta. could see how the Supreme Court had grilled Chairman NAB for misusing his power to help the ruling elite evade corruption NAB has been criticized for promoting and facilitating corruption charges,” Shah said. Shah is confident that the new law would rather than eliminating it. The bureau has also been placed under not discriminate among the criminals. “Anyone, be it a member of the hammer for turning its eye from mega corruption cases and the ruling elite or a bureaucrat or a politician,” Shah emphasized, running after small corruption cases. Over the years, different “caught with corruption charges and proven guilty will be governments have provided legal passage to influential people, convicted.” especially the politicians, to move out of corruption charges; National Reconciliation Ordinance and Ehtesab Act of 1997 are Former Punjab Governor, Sardar Latif Khosa, a PPP stalwart, was just a few examples. critical of PML-N’s effort to form a new law replacing NAB. He inquired as to how a government accused of corruption charges The government has appointed a 20 member Parliamentary could bring about a law against corruption. He blamed the Committee headed by Federal Law Minister, Zahid Hamid, to PML-N for not cooperating with the PPP government in its last replace NAB with the National Accountability Commission. tenure in getting the National Accountability Commission Bill passed, as, said Khosa, “This bill was initially developed by the PPP.” Khosa was in favour of an independent commission. “If the Tracking new anti-corruption law is made subservient to the government, then it will be of no use,” Khosa said. The Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice Mehmood Bashir Virk has been critical of his own party (PML-N) and all the previous governments for Independent Viewpoint failing to implement the existing laws. He told Truth Tracker that the need to reinvent a new law arose because NAB had Shahid Usman, a senior lawyer, told Truth Tracker that unless become too controversial and everyone in his or her capacity a change was brought about in the people themselves; in their was demanding for it to be killed. Explaining the framework of mode of thinking and style of governance, a new law would National Accountability Commission, Virk said, “Power in the just be an addition to the already sketchy legal framework of new law would not be concentrated in the hands of any one the country. He said that the NAB was considered draconian in person.” “The courts,” he elaborated, “could intervene to keep the nature and it had been used effectively as well. “It all depends commission from steering in the wrong direction.” Virk, however, on the formation of the new commission; there should be an admitted that if those holding the reigns of power had character independent body to influence the decisions of the chairman of even the NAB would have given results. “Call it indifference to the commission. NAB has been deliberately made in such a way the national cause, dishonesty, insensitivity or incompetence, but that all the power accumulated rests with the Chairman because the reality is that the law enforcement institutions are corrupt to it is easy to manipulate one person as opposed to ten or twenty the core,” Virk said. “If the NAB could deliver results, in whatever people. Internal accountability and the dispersal of power are the form, during Pervez Musharraf’s rule, why is it failing to deliver keys that could make this new law effective,” Usman said now? The difference,” Virk complained,, lies in their intentions.” “If Another lawyer Farrukh Dall is also of the opinion that there is Truth Tracker 13 March 16-31, 2017 absolutely no need of a new accountability law. “It is corruption Accountability Commission; though the government is not sure within the NAB and the misuse of power that makes it notorious. if it would be able to implement the law during its tenure. The If the government had the will to enforce the laws of the NAB bill is in its nascent stage, being deliberated in the Parliamentary there would be no need to form any commission,” Dall said. Committee on Law and Justice. The future of the commission is not clear therefore Truth Tracker rules that the promise has been compromised. Ruling The PML-N government is in the process of making the National Promise Tracking PTI Chairman’s promise to build 300 dams in KPK stands compromised.
Rehmat Mehsud
The Promise Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief, Imran Khan, had promised that his party-led government would build 300 small dams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and soon there would be no load shedding in the province. Background Back in April 2014, Khan, while speaking at a gathering in connection of by-election in PK-86 in Khwazakhela district of Swat, had said that he would not tolerate corruption in the province. He had said that his government will construct small dams for power generation and irrigation.
“Today, my party is ruling KP, but no one can accuse me of spending a single rupee from the taxpayers money,” he had said. Among the promised 350 dams, he recalled that work on 50 small hydel projects having 5 kilowatts, 10 kilowatts and 15 kilowatts capacities is underway.
Tracking “The PTI has inaugurated those 50 projects but it was just a Truth Tracker approached Mushtaq Ghani, Advisor to KP Chief sham,” Shah added. He said that the people are very repentant of Minister on Higher Education and Information, who did not their decision to vote for PTI. return our phone calls or text messages despite several attempts. “The PTI has played with the sentiments of their voters,” he However, Malik Shah Muhammad Khan Wazir, Special Assistant added. to Chief Minister on Transport, said that Imran Khan did not When contacted for a comment regarding the PTI chairman’s promise to build large dams, rather he promised the construction promise to build 300 dams, Malik Riaz Khan, another lawmaker of small reservoirs. from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), told Truth Tracker, “It (building of “Development work on those small water reservoirs is underway dams) was just a ridiculous thing to do.” but I do not have the exact figures at this time,” he noted. When asked how he sees PTI chairman’s promise, Sahibzada He recalled that the PTI chairman had promised to build small Sanaullah, a lawmaker from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was reservoirs but the media failed to explain the difference between enraged and said,”The PTI cannot even construct 30 dams, and reservoirs and dams. yet they are talking about building 300 dams.”
“The promise made by Imran Khan is close to being fulfilled, the “If you approach PTI, they will respond that they have plans to concerned department will be in a better position to reply to construct the dams. Yes, they (PTI) can materialize that promise these queries,” he added. if you give them 50 years to rule, otherwise it is impossible for them,” Sanaullah noted. Wazir referred Truth Tracker’s correspondent to the irrigation department or energy and power department. However, none of the officials or the Special Secretary to Chief Minister responded Independent Viewpoint to requests for comment on the subject. Safiullah Gul, a senior Peshawar based journalist and independent Sayed Jaffar Shah, Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) from analyst, said regarding PTI Chairman’s promise of building 300 Awami National Party (ANP), said, “Of course the PTI government dams in KP: “On the ground realities, it seems that their plan of and Khan himself had repeatedly announced to build 350 dams building dams presently remains to be a ‘political slogan.’” instead of 300 in KP.” “If you take a look at the PTI Tsunami Billion Tree Project, the “PTI has not built 350 swimming pools, let alone 300 dams,” situation is different,” he added. Shah remarked. “However, NGOs are building some small hydel projects having a capacity of five and 10 kilowatts. A budget of He said, “Although there are some ongoing projects in the Rs. 3 billion was allocated for these hydel projects, but with this province, it seems unlikely that they (PTI) will be able to complete amount of funding, even a single wall of a dam can not be built.” these dams within the stipulated time because the provincial assembly hardly has one-and-a-half year left to complete its 14 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017 term.” Ruling “There are many lacunas such as proper allocation (of funds), n light of the comments and views presented by the ruling, which can not be seen over there,” Gul said regarding PTI’s dams opposition lawmakers and independent analyst, Truth Tracker promise. rules that PTI’s promise regarding the construction of 300 dams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands compromised. When asked to specifically tell whether the PTI would be able to construct these dams, Gul said: “It seems very difficult and impossible. All the projects cannot be materialized as the PTI has barely 18 months to remain in power.” Promise Tracking PPP’s promise for better disaster management system stands broken
Durdana Najam
The Promise In its 2013 manifesto, the Pakistan People’s Party had promised to develop better systems and procedures for disaster management. Background Until 2005—spanning almost 50 years—the country was satisfied with the ‘readiness’ capacity of its disaster management system to deal with natural calamities and man-made disaster of any magnitude. In 2005, when 7.6 magnitudes earthquake hit the Northern areas of Pakistan, the state realized how ill-prepared it was to deal with emergencies and disasters of such a high magnitude. The administration revisited its disaster management policies and found it silent on issues such as communicating risk, assessing social vulnerabilities and capacities, disaster risk organization, Edhi Foundation, the injured were taken to the reduction and management. The thrust of the policy was found hospitals in private cars, auto rickshaws, on carts and on foot. on providing the technical solution to disasters. Resultantly, the The nearest main hospital in Sehwan was almost 130 kilometres disaster management system was overhauled, and a federal body, away. the National Disaster Management Authority, was established along with the provincial and district disaster management authorities. Tracking
Pakistan has been experiencing the effects of extreme weather, Truth Tracker contacted PPP officials in Sindh government and flash floods and drought for several years. After 2005, the worst talked to Jam Mehtab Dahar, Minster for Education and former calamity to hit the country came in 2010 and 2011. The floods Minister for Health. He did not confirm nor deny the fact that the of 2010 hit a large part of Sindh and Balochistan. Again the PPP government had been unable to fulfill its promise of making ineffectiveness of the state’s disaster management was exposed, a functioning disaster management system in the province. as according to the recorded data, Sindh suffered 94 per cent of However, Dahar lays the blame of PPP’s ineffectiveness on the total damage, causing losses of Rs 325 billion. the politics of expediency and reconciliation. He said, “The PPP government had been leveraging MQM in the provincial The Global Climate Risk Index 1993-2012 ranked Pakistan matters.” “The provincial institutions,” Dahar says, “were allowed 12th on the list of the states most affected by extreme weather to function the way they had been performing, with excessive conditions in South Asia. staff.” According to Dahar, the previous PPP government would pay Rs 60 billion monthly in salaries to them. As far as Disaster management is a complex system of processes that the Sehwan incident is concerned, Dahar points fingers at the require effective coordination and collaboration of different federal government, saying it will always be the responsibility of actors and institutions to prevent hazards, save lives, rehabilitate the centre to stop terrorism; provincial government cannot do livelihood, protect assets and infrastructure in the wake anything in this regard. of a calamity. The government, civil society organizations, communities, and community-based local institutions such as However, talking to Commander (R) Syed Salman Shah, mosques must learn to act fast. Unfortunately, the government Director General Provincial Disaster Management Authority has been unable to mobilize both its resources and those lying (PDMA), Sindh has been revealing. “How can you run a disaster outside its sphere, to prevent or control damages caused by management department with only 59 people and insufficient the disaster. The Sehwan shrine bombing exposed the Sindh resources. The PDMA does not have any rescue system government’s poor ability in handling emergencies. In spite embedded in its law. This makes it difficult for us to respond of intelligence reports, only one police officer, and a partially to a crisis in time. It is impossible for us to reach every place functioning walk-through gate were provided as protective or perform optimally.” About the reason behind the inefficiency measures. of his department, Shah said, “If every department such as the police, the building, the health and so on and so forth, started It is alarming that only Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa performing honestly and professionally there would be no need have a state response body; rescue 1122. Neither Sindh nor for my department.” “It is,” he said, “a collective effort. Unless the Balochistan government has established any such facility. efficiency of other departments matches the efficiency of PDMA At Sehwan, according to the officials of the private rescue Truth Tracker 15 March 16-31, 2017 or vice versa things will not improve. He further added that the Sindh government is developing the rescue department 1122. The project will be operational only in Karachi at least for one year. According to Shah, Rs 250 million has been allocated for the project.
• Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi, says that the Sindh government has never been prepared to disasters. “If prepared, it should have been visible, when 2010 flood struck, the authorities had to remove the embankments that deluged the entire interior Sindh.” Recalling the heat weave of Karachi that killed almost 5,000 people Rehman says hospitals lacked basic facilities and capacity to manage such a large number of affected people. “The hospitals almost collapsed, neither were there enough medial staff nor beds or equipment. No hospital was equipped with an alternative system such as generator to provide electricity during load shedding.” Rehman says compared to the state, an NGO or a philanthropic organization can only provide limited service in the time of crisis. He says it is the responsibility of the state and the government to address disaster and rehabilitate people and the infrastructure when calamities strike. Taking about funds, allocated for disaster management and health sector, Rehman says, it becomes a fodder for corruption.
Member of Sindh Assembly from Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf, Khurrum Sherzaman, holds identical views. He quotes an incident to give a precise picture of the situation. “Some two months back at midnight a building collapsed at the Shah Rasool colony in Clifton Karachi. When I went there almost six such disasters Shafqat says greater preparedness is required but people were buried under the debris. When the staff of the we find little or no preparation at all. He identifies two areas that provincial disaster management authority arrived they had no need to be looked at when talking about natural disaster one is equipment or any thing to evacuate the people. People from the mitigation and other adaptation. neighbourhood removed the debris using their own shovels. Two people died eventually,” said Sherzaman. About the provincial Two, are man made disasters, which are directly related to disaster department, Sherzaman says that like any other urbanization. We have allowed, says Shafqat, to spread our cities department in Sindh, the employees of this department are also haphazardly without planning. In this scenario we encounter getting salary sitting at home. issues of traffic congestion, irregular control over the movement of people, informal settlements and other social issues such MQM lawmaker and leader of the opposition in the Sindh as overflowing sewerage etc. Shafqat says that planning for Assembly, Khawaja Izharul Hassan, in his conversation with Truth urbanization does not only mean building bridges and roads, Tracker over telephone from Karachi says that in the PDMA the pertinent part of this planning, he says, involves improving Sindh only 45 people of clerical standard have been employed. infrastructure in term of social sector which means building “For the Financial Year 2016-17, Rs 2 billion has been allocated hospitals, houses, schools etc. “The Sehwan bombing has laid for PDMA. Not a single meeting of the PDMA has taken place bare the claims of the Sindh government about risk or disaster since its inception. The situation of the Sindh Rehabilitation management,” says Shafqat. He adds that one could clearly see Department is equally deplorable. We even do not know who is lack of coordination among disaster management departments. heading this department. Another department, called the Civil “Who was responsible to respond when the attack occurred; the Defence Department (CDD), is in a pathetic condition. Located police, the PDMA or the district disaster department. “Disaster in a worn out ramshackle building, the telephone connections management has to be dealt with in a coordinated manner. It of CDD had been disconnected. From this, one can assess the cannot be left on one department.” Lack of planning and thought ability, capacity and agility of all these departments to respond in our policies are at the root of the ineffectiveness of the disaster time emergency,” said Izhar. management departments in Sindh, says Shafqat.
Responding to the budget allocation mystery, Salman Shah, says The third area related to disaster management, which is left that RS 2 billion is spent on different projects within disaster unattended is migration, says Shafqat. The government has management system. no plan as to how to stem the flow of migration of the people from the rural to the urban areas. Neither does the government He gave the following breakdown of Rs 2 billion: knows, how to settle the migrating people. “Eventually what happens is that these people settle on the bank of the river and Funds (Rs/millions) Areas of spending in the time of floods it becomes difficult to relocate them.”
700 Emergency budget (parked at Finance The flow of people from the rural to the urban areas is putting Department). stress on the urban infrastructure, developed originally to 650 Annual Development Budget. accommodate a certain number of people. When this number 250 For the establishment of Rescue exceeds we find clogged drains, overflowing sewerage and operation system. accumulated rainwater on streets. In the nutshell, says Shafqat, the Sindh and the rest of the governments are short of policy and 150 For administration of PDMA office. planning to address the issue of disaster management. 250 Consultancy/WB/ Regional offices Ruling Independent Viewpoint The PPP government has failed to make any headway in Saeed Shafqat, Professor and Director, Public Policy and improving the process of disaster management system. The Governance FC College Lahore, classifies disaster management promise hence stands broken system into three areas:
One, are natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes. For 16 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017 Promise Tracking PPP’s promise for better disaster management system stands broken
Izhar Yusafzai
The Promise The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa(KP) government will establish 200 smart schools in places targeted by bomb blasts, and natural disasters such earthquakes and floods. These claims were made by KP Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education, Muhammad Atif whilst talking to media crews in August, 2016 during his visit to Lakki Marwat district. Background Imposing an education crisis, after Pakistan Tehrek-i-Insaf(PTI) was voted into power in KP, has promised reforms in education sectors of the province. Various initiatives such as a monitoring system for educational institutions were established to ensure the attendance of the teachers in government-run schools. Secondly, he said, “The capacity for students in smart schools’ The government has allocated a total of Rs10.3 billion for 64 class rooms was smaller in comparison to a normal classroom.” on-going schemes in Elementary and Secondary Education sector while over Rs2.4 billion has been allocated for eight new “Smart school classrooms have the capacity to accommodate up schemes. to 28 students while normal class rooms can accommodate up to 35 students,” Khan said, adding that due to such technical issues Some of the major projects included the conversion of 100 the project has been halted. madrasas into regular primary schools for which Rs1.7 billion was allocated while another major project promised the establishment He told Newslens Pakistan that the project was pending and of 160 primary schools on an immediate basis in KP for which the funds will be utilized for construction of play areas in Rs.2.8 billion were earmarked. government-run schools. He added that the government does not want to work on a project which has not been approved by Plan engineering experts as it can create problems for the children. Meanwhile, Khan said that he would look for the engineering One of the initiatives taken by the KP government was the experts’ go ahead, as currently they have paused the plan, but if it establishment of 200 smart schools to provide quality education gets approved, the government will construct it. to children in areas affected by militancy or natural disasters. Independent experts deem the government’s attitude as careless, The government has earmarked Rs.2 billion, of which Rs.1 billion since they announced the plan without a feasibility report and was projected to be released in the fiscal year 2016-17 and the proper planning. Malik Masood, Program Manager of Centre remaining Rs.1 billion will be released in the next fiscal year for of Governance and Public Accountability, a non-for profit the construction of smart schools across the province. organization working for improvement of governance system So far, a single school has been established to pilot the project said, “The government needs to do their homework regarding since the budget was introduced in Lakki Marwat. The school the establishment of Smart Schools before they announce the cost over Rs12 million, and it has six class rooms, each room can project.” facilitate 28 students. However, he did suggest that the government should first work The projects was widely publicized in the media and the PTI led on fixing the government-run schools that are already present provincial government of KP was applauded. However, it seems and lacking facilities, rather than going towards the establishment that the plan has failed to live up to its claims. of such projects. “The already established 40,000 schools need to be improved so Tracking that every school can become a model institution where children can get quality education,” said Masood, adding that since an An official of the Elementary and Secondary Education education emergency has been imposed in the province, it should department privy to the development says, “The school feasibility be treated as a real emergency to improve education sector. failed for various reasons and hence the funds allocated for the smart schools were transferred to other projects in the education He did appreciate small improvements made by the education sector.” system of KP but he also added that it was not enough, the government needs to do more. The official told Truth Tracker, under the condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to speak to the media, that the plan for establishment of smart schools in KP has been ignored due to Ruling technical issues. After a thorough review of the opinions presented by government Minister for Education, Muhammad Atif Khan, while talking to officials and independent experts, Truth Tracker has concluded Truth Tracker, confirmed that the establishment of the smart that the KP government has failed to fulfil its promise. schools project failed due to technical issues. He cited that the height of the smart schools was not satisfactory.
Truth Tracker 17 March 16-31, 2017 Accountability Punjab Government’s favourite few
All three members of Punjab Information Punjab government established Forensic Commission including Mazhar Hussain Science Agency in 2009 to contribute Minhas, Ahmed Raza Tahir and Mukhtar Anwer Sumra in criminal justice system by providing Ahmed are on contract on MP scales. forensic data for investigation and Lahore: The Punjab government, while prosecution. Dr Ashraf Tahir was initially The offering of hefty perks and privileges claiming transparency and merit, has hired as consultant in 2009 and later to the select few officers is discrimination offered hefty financial packages to became Director General in 2011. He was from all scope. It invites heartburning handpicked retired and in-service offered a package of Rs.1.2 million. Tahir is among the competent, honest and officers for their services in public affairs now 70 plus years of age. hardworking officers, who have no say without any justification. This act has in political power corridors, says a PMS created a sense of resentment among Shoaib bin Aziz who retired from Officer requesting anonymity. The hiring of the competent officers as the hiring of government job in October 2010 is retired men above 63 is not only violation the retired is barring their promotion/ now working as press secretary to chief of government concerned polices but postings on key slots and offering huge minister Punjab on contract. Aziz is getting also block promotion avenues of eligible financial benefits to cronies are depressing 0.5 million per month in addition to staff officers in different cadres, he maintained. them financially. According to documents car with driver, unlimited petrol and official Both steps are neither acceptable nor obtained from the civil secretariat by Truth protocol. affordable in smooth functioning of Tracker (TT), the army of retired officers governance and its enforcement. It is is getting millions from public kitty, which Sabtain Fazal Haleem a retired District not possible that all bureaucrats use does not correlate with the contribution Management Group officer (now full energies when they are not treated they make in governance affairs. Pakistan Administrative Service, PAS) on equal financial incentives and civic was retired in March 2011 after attaining facilities. Ultimately, public will suffer, he The TT acquired document stated that superannuation of age. The government reiterated. the Punjab government re-employed hired his services as Managing Director, around 25 retired bureaucrats offering Mass Transit Authority and he is getting The obliging of in-service senior and them Management Professional scales 0.5 million package form public kitty. He junior officers is also going unchecked in different departments, authorities and is considered master for the construction as during the last week of January, the government entities. Out of these men, of roads for buses even during his regular Punjab government has extended special two are above 72 and three are 65 year of service he did the same nature of job. monetary benefits to Chief Secretary age. The policy deals with re-employment Muhammad Tariq Ayub a PAS officer (CS) Punjab Captain (retired) Zahid Saeed of retired officials “Re-employment Policy who retired in June 2012 is now heading and Inspector General of Police Mushtaq 2003 and hiring on contract “Contract Punjab Privatization Board on contract. Ahmed Sukhara. The government granted Policy 2004 strictly bar hiring of men He has been offered 0.5 million from a special executive allowance Rs.400, 000 above 63 year of age, reads a document. public kitty. It is evident that no visible to CS and Rs.380, 000 to IG per month to All had been offered packages under privatization of public assets has been help them out in financial constraints to monetization policy but are using official made since he joined the board. lead a respectful life, say a document with cars, drivers and petrol as well. TT. Kamran Lashari a PAS officer who retired Some of the prominent are Dr Syed Abul in December 2012 is on contract as The special allowance is in addition to Hassan Najmee, Shoaib bin Aziz, Sabtain Director General Walled City of Lahore emoluments they are receiving from Fazal Haleem, Tariq Ayub, Ahmed Raza Authority and getting Rs.0.5 million in public kitty for their services. The grant Tahir, Kamran Lashari, Ahtasham Anwer, addition to official car, unlimited petrol and of special executive allowance to Chief Mazhar Hussain Minhas and Dr Ashraf medical. Secretary Punjab and Inspector General Tahir, Dr. Muhammad Sarwar and Dr of Police became the talk of the town Muhammad Amjad. 18 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017
as an extraordinary financial support to incumbent in BS-20. any senior serving officer. General public Saif is also chairman of the Punjab is of the views that current year is an The neglected officers say that they Information Technology Board (PITB). electioneering one and heads of both civil feel demoralization and victimization. It He has been heading the PITB since and police bureaucracy are accommodated seems, the Punjab government is running 2011 and is the founding VC of the ITU. to get their sincere support in upcoming government affairs like a private company GCU’s Rehman has been given a special polls. The senior officers have already as they are being offered a huge package allowance for introducing entry tests for being offered massive facilities from public whereas an administrative secretary is admission to engineering and medical funds, i.e., fully furnished residences, getting Rs.120, 000 per month according and dental colleges. A special allowance utility bills, transport, fuel, security and to his scale, another senior officer says. To for promoting “civic engagement” at the other paraphernalia, including an army of justify special allowance, the government FJWU has been offered to principal, the servants. has to offer same financial benefits to documents add. administrative secretaries, divisional A senior official of finance department commissioners, deputy commissioners, Senior economist Professor Muhammad (custodian of public coffer) says a summary director generals and additional secretaries Shakeel says offering of huge allowance was sent to chief minister for approval of as they have to deal with massive to a few officers is discrimination among special executive allowance to CS and IG workload and huge responsibilities in the regular public servants. The pay and because it was an extraordinary benefit implementation of government writ, he allowance of regular servants depend to be offered. After approval, the finance maintains. on ranks/scales and offering of special department notified provision of allowance incentive will promote deprivation among to both heads, he remarks. The finance In the past such allowances had been the colleagues. It may also encourage department has not opposed it despite the offered to professionals like professors, corruption among the deprived cadre, fact it was not justified under any financial engineers, scientists and doctors (not he says. The hiring of retired officers in discipline and rule, he says. regular public servants) with the aim to violation of concern policies will hurt the enable them for focus on tasks assigned promotion and posting of regular officers The decision to grant hefty superior without eyeing on more avenues, says on key slots in administrative hierarchy, he executive allowance has sparked a heated documents with TT. In the recent past, maintains. debate in the bureaucratic hierarchy and a special allowance of Rs. 400,000 per some of them have expressed heavy month is paid to Information Technology Former IG Punjab Tariq Saleem says in the resentment and annoyance as well. University’s (ITU) Umar Saif, Rs.200, past such allowances were offered under The government has already offered 000 to Government College University’s police reforms to police officers but not lucrative incentives to some junior civil (GCU) Muhammad Khaleequr Rehman of such volume. Discrimination definitely servants serving in authorities, projects, and Rs150, 000 to Fatima Jinnah Women hurts some, he adds. commissions and companies, which have University (FJWU) Rawalpindi. The created resentment among competent allowances are in addition to regular Truth Tracker contacted Punjab civil servants serving in their mainstream salaries, transport and medical facilities government spokesperson Malik careers, they add. admissible to grade 22 officers, the Muhammad Ahmed and provincial minister documents reads. Saif had been given the Zaeem Qadari repeatedly for government Ahad Cheema a DMG officer in BS-19 allowance for promoting e-governance viewpoint but they avoided answering or and Rashid Mehmood Langryal a BS-20 and e-learning and introducing the Punjab even to respond to the text messages. are working in energy sector and getting Model of Proactive Governance – a Rs.1.6 and Rs.1.2 million respectively. mechanism through which the government Secretary finance Hamid Yaqub Sheikh evaluates and accounts for its performance makes around Rs.1.0 million as a regular by reaching out to citizens.
Truth Tracker 19 March 16-31, 2017 Human Rights An untold story of lonely female elephant’s plight in Lahore Zoo
three females), two males or three (WAZA).” elephants of mixed gender.” On the contrary, the worldwide Maria Laraib Senior Researcher, Kiran Saleem admitted conservation status of the African bush covertly that Suzi has never experienced elephant has been declared as endangered Lahore: Suzi, the female elephant in mating. according to wildlife experts. Lahore Zoo, has turned 30. During last 24 years, she has never experienced the Lahore Zoo authorities were unable While addressing concerns regarding the pleasure of living in harmony with her own to solve habitat management related captive conservation of this species, Dr. species with no one to understand her issues, financial constraints and above all, Jawad Ahmed, Senior Animal Specialist of feelings and sentiments. problems related to a lack of space for Veterinary Hub Pakistan (an NGO) said, housing at least two elephants and their “Captive African Bush Elephant’s will be Lahore’s zoological garden, established progeny since 1992. As, Mr. Shafqat Ali demographically extinct in Asia during the in 1872, is one of the most famous and said that no procurement plan for buying next two decades.” well-maintained recreational spots for Suzi’s mate have been drafted since her the general public, as opposed to other presence in the Zoo. He said that out of all mammalian species, zoological parks. the innate desire for mating is 60 percent Kiran Saleem disclosed to News Lens higher in elephants. Operating as a self-sustained organization Pakistan via telephonic conversation: in the provincial capital of Punjab, “A summary of Rs 322.17 million Dr. Waleed, Senior Veterinary Surgeon at Pakistan; Lahore Zoo had purchased a 6 budget allocation has been moved to the well-known Ghora (horse) Hospital year old, female African bush elephant in Department of Forestry, Wildlife and of Lahore, told News Lens via telephone, 1992. Fisheries Punjab by Lahore Zoo, in which “The prime reproductive-age of a female animal procurement has been given key African mammal is in between 10–30 “The calf was named ‘Suzi’ due to her importance with a budget allocation of Rs years, during which mating not only gives friendly, docile demeanor,” said Shafqat 114.95 million.” them the opportunity to display their Ali, Director Lahore Zoo, in an interview natural desires but it will also help with with News Lens Pakistan. Due to shortage To the utter amazement of News Lens conserving this species under caretaker of funds and the unavailability of African Pakistan, she said, “We have not included captivity.” elephants, she was brought alone and not the cost for a partner for Suzi in this animal in a pair, said Ali. procurement plan, as she is past the prime While discussing Suzi’s captive mating of her fertility.” requirements, Ali said, “It is impossible However, recent recommendation for us to bring a male for her, considering issued by World Association of Zoos While discussing captive mating and her age and reproductive status. and Aquariums (WAZA), as outlined in breeding, Director Lahore Zoo Ali said, The transportation charges, habitat the accreditation standards and related “Mating is not the primary purpose of management, food, housing space for policies 2016, states, “Each zoo holding Zoos, even according to the international another adult elephant and behavior elephants must have a minimum of three standards recommended by World management of a male elephant of Suzi’s females (or the space to accommodate Association of Zoos and Aquariums age is above the financial and professional
20 Truth Tracker March 16-31, 2017
Sugarcane to feed Suzi :Photo by News Lens Pakistan/ Maria Gul capacity of the Lahore Zoo.” This depicts a sad reality; Suzi has never experienced the pleasure and excitement Moreover, a food expenditure of Rs 14 lac of mating, she may never get the chance to for an elephant can only be sufficient to breed a calf of her own. keep Suzi in good health. We cannot add another member in such a constrained Expressing an altogether different view budget, added Kiran. point, Dr. Jawad Ahmed, a vocal advocate of animal rights, says, “The sole purpose Senior Veterinary Officer, Dr. Babar Saleem of an animal’s natural expression is told News Lens Pakistan that Suzi is tied not merely breeding. Breeding is the with a single foot chain from 7pm- 4am, outcome of copulation which is crucial as late evening to early night hours are of for elephants, even if breeding does profound sexual activity in this species.” not occur. Almost 29 percent of captive Mohammad Hussain, caretaker of Suzi, African female elephants worldwide have said, “She shows signs of activeness and been incapable of breeding a calf due to restlessness at that time.” He further complex reproductive pathologies. Yet, added that she does not want him to come they have been living in groups with males close to her during these particular night to mate as well.” timings. Kaavan, an Asian elephant, is chained and Kiran claims confidently, “The habitat, sedated in the Islamabad Marghzar Zoo, diet and captive management measures after his mate named Saheli died back in especially for Suzi, the royal animal of 2012. He faces problems similar to Suzi’s. Lahore zoo, have been taken in accordance Kaavan’s plight drew a global outcry when with WAZA standards; that is why an online campaign ‘Free Kaavan’ was Suzi’s diet chart copulation is not an issue to be tackled,” launched in 2015, and it has been signed by 395, 245 animal rights advocates across Dr. Saleem, confirmed that initially, the the world. female elephant was chained for a short period of time. “However, we managed her Dr. Waleed said, “The confinement and innate desires by keeping her busy with isolation of the animal has caused him increased human interaction and a long enough pain, primarily after Saheli’s death exercise routine,” he explained. since 2012, when his psychosocial and physiological needs were not catered to He said that she takes a walk regularly on by the City Development Authority of the zoo tracks from 7am to 9am, during Islamabad. They did not bring in another which she is overjoyed to see other female Asian elephant or send him to an animals in their enclosures. .Suzi’s ‘Hello’ elephant sanctuary.” with her trunk to the rhinoceros living Suzi’s Chains beside her enclosure is a pleasurable sight for all of us. Truth Tracker 21 March 16-31, 2017
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